Revolution Still Looking For First Win Of 2025

Porter: “I don’t think we lost the game today because the team didn’t fight or because the guys didn’t give all they had. We lost the game today in the boxes."

The New England Revolution are still looking for their first win of 2025.

The Revs lost Saturday’s game against New York City FC 2-1. The away side got on the scoresheet first when Brandon Bye’s cross was put into the back of the net by a NYCFC player.

The game returned to level terms before halftime when Jonathan Shore capitalized on a counterattack.

“I thought it was another game where we had a good first half,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “Obviously, we score a goal. It was a bit fortunate, but I felt like we controlled large portions of that first half and got in great positions. Good occupation in the final third, which is what we wanted to do, and I felt like we were having the run of the game. Then, [we were] very disappointed to give away the goal in a transition moment.”

The game’s deciding strike came in the 68th minute after a corner kick. The initial ball was cleared, but NYCFC won possession and moved toward the net.

Although Aljaz Ivacic made a quick reaction save, Alonso Martinez hit a side volley to gain the lead.

“We have given away five goals this year, and two of them are transitions and two of them are defensive set pieces,” Porter said. “So, of the five, four of those are becoming a trend. I feel like when we are in balance and get our lines set and our blocks set up, we are very difficult to break down. But the defensive set pieces and the transitions, we have to clean that up.”

The Revs are 0-3-1 to start the season with one goal scored. Defensively, they’ve conceded five.

Porter, now in his second season as head coach, would like to see his team improve in both boxes.

“I don’t think we lost the game today because the team didn’t fight or because the guys didn’t give all they had,” Porter said. “We lost the game today in the boxes and that continues to be where we are falling short.

“We have to clean up the defensive set pieces. We brought in a set piece coach and we spent a lot of time, more than I have ever seen anybody spend time on set pieces, and right now we are minus-two on set pieces. We have given away two goals and we haven’t scored a goal. So, we have to be better there and we have to be better in the transition moments, and we have to be better in the final third continuing to show quality.”

Offensively, Porter noted that there are times when the Revs needs to be a bit bolder.

“We got the ball wide quite a bit and instead of going one-v-one and getting a cross in, too many times we went backwards in those situations,” Porter said. “I thought Ilay [Feingold] actually, when he came in, we got a little bit more, even though he is right-footed. He wanted to drive at the right back and get crosses in, and that’s what we needed.

“It’s a game [where] if we got crosses in, I felt we would score either on the first ball or the counter press. We have to take more responsibility, take more risks, and just be a bit more ruthless. That is individual, but it’s also collective. I think we just have to continue to work on that. We did get in better spots today. We had more control, so that’s good. But yeah, we need to continue to show more quality in that final third.”

The Revs, who are off next weekend because of the international break, will hope to find the right balance between offense and defense as they look for their first win of 2025.

This balance is delicate, according Brandon Bye.

“It’s a tough balance, something you have to understand,” Bye exaplined. “Also, it’s something you have to understand with how the game is going. On a small field like this one, if you’re too aggressive, they can make you pay in a hurry.

“It’s something that we have to continue to develop, an understanding with each other, and on the field, an understanding of whether to go, whether to be balanced, whether to take those chances, things like that.”